text: At the beginning of the Society, it was agreed that there would be Continental Chapters of TERMIS, initially TERMIS-North America (TERMIS-NA) and TERMIS-Europe (TERMIS-EU), to be joined at the time of the major Shanghai conference in October 2005 by TERMIS-Asia Pacific (TERMIS-AP). It was subsequently agreed that the remit of TERMIS-North America should be expanded to incorporate activity in South America, the chapter becoming TERMIS-Americas (TERMS-AM) officially in 2012.